PaySauce is a New Zealand payroll software start-up founded in 2015 to deliver a people-oriented pay solution, making it easier for employers to manage contracts, digital timesheets, payroll, banking and more.
PaySauce has since established itself as a leader in the farming space with more than 50% of its business in the rural sector, building solutions with and for people in the agricultural industry, especially in dairy. While features and applications may appear farm focused, they are all applicable to the broader small business market. PaySauce is not only a payroll provider, but a full suite of employment solutions and is ready to take on the Australian market.
“Launching into Australia this year, our focus will be on the rural sector because we understand the industry so well, but we do have a big following in other sectors such as retail, hospitality and construction in New Zealand. Our payroll software works well for any small business owner because it’s so easy,” PaySauce head of sales and marketing, Marie-Claire Andrews said.
“It’s a tough economic environment right now for small business with constant challenges from weather events to inflation and rising interest rates. All of these factors are squeezing margins and making it more difficult to turn a profit. We want to make sure businesses get their payroll right and spend less time on admin.”
Andrews believes that SMEs are quite underserved by software companies because they often start with small businesses but then work up the value chain to work with bigger businesses and leave SMEs behind.
“We build and design solutions that nurture the small business sector. Payroll intricacies is not something most people have time to learn a great deal about, which is where our support team of over 20 people come in to assist business owners to pay their people right. In New Zealand, we have complex employment legislation and in Australia, the Awards system can be complicated to navigate. Underpaying staff is not a mistake you want to make.”
Salesforce partnership
Like most small businesses, PaySauce started with low-cost and simple software solutions but then realised this was hindering business growth when multiple systems were in play.
“Nothing was broken but we could see a much bigger opportunity ahead if we doubled down on our investment. The Salesforce team are advisors and advocates for building better business systems. The software is great, but the people are also great, which was an unexpected bonus,” Andrews said.
“We now have a single view of the customer so we can see what they’re doing and when they’re doing it, so when they contact us, we have a holistic view across all departments from marketing to customer support. We used Salesforce to set up an online knowledge base for our customers – documenting and sharing payroll tips and insights – it’s infinitely configurable so we can continue to enhance it.”
Bank of New Zealand partnership
One initiative that PaySauce is particularly proud of is its PayNow feature supported by the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) that allows employees to access funds they’ve already earned, before payday.
“We are on a mission to disrupt predatory lending by offering no and low-cost alternatives that help people avoid extortionate interest rates and stay out of debt,” Andrews said.
“Times are tough and we think it’s outdated that people earn money but don’t get access to it for two, three or four weeks. If an employee needs to access the wages they’ve earned to pay a bill or unexpected expense, they simply click a button on the PaySauce mobile app and up to 80% of those wages are made available to them within a couple of hours.
“For example, if someone has worked six days but isn’t paid for another eight days, they can ask for some of their pay from the wages they’ve earned in the first six days (after deductions). When payday comes, they receive the remaining wages and the amount they’ve already received is repaid back to PaySauce. All with no admin to the employer.
“It doesn’t cost the employer anything and it means employees can avoid uncomfortable conversations with their boss about being paid earlier than payday. It’s a feature that costs us a business – we don’t make any money from it but it’s something we do because we feel it’s the right thing to do and are grateful for the partnership with BNZ who provides the facility to make it happen.”
Customer obsession
Andrews’ message to small businesses and potential PaySauce customers is simple – “We want business owners to get back to the things they love.”
She continued: “Don’t stress about the things that you don’t know. Business owners reach out to their accounting advisor for accounting software – reach out to us for safe, reliable, compliant and easy to use payroll. We know it’s tough, but we have your back. There are a lot of software options but our service is special because we care about people and this is demonstrated through features like PayNow. We are obsessed with our customers.”